Strung Together
by karmascreams
Summary: With Dumbledore's death at his feet Harry takes refuge in the Room of Requirement. What happens next is not what he could have expected, not even in his wildest dreams. Now the summer has taken a turn and he has to put aside his emotions if he is to be ready to destroy Voldemort once and for all. Don't forget to review!
1. One Thousand Years

Feeling the last few hours settle onto his shoulders Harry heaved a sigh. He was losing everyone, from his parents, to Sirius… Dumbledore. It was a never ending cycle he couldn't spell away. And now, somehow, he found himself in the Room of Requirement.

Settling himself on to an old armchair he gave the room a once over. The room had turned itself into a smaller version of the Gryffindor common room. Next to him, on the small end table, old parchments lay forgotten underneath an even older looking cup.

Absentmindedly he picked up the cup and before he could mutter a word a familiar hook feeling fixed itself under his navel.

The feeling lasted for what seemed like hours. When it finally stopped he found himself unceremoniously dropped onto a rug before a fireplace in the same room he was just previously in.

Looking around he scratched his head in confusion. Obviously he had taken a portkey, but why would a portkey be hidden in the Room of Requirement and why would it take him to the same place?

Eyeing the old parchments again he carefully picked one up, hoping it wouldn't whisk him away as well. Seeing the odd text he shook his head. Hermione would be able to help him, but she was with Ron.

Making sure he still had his wand Harry left the room taking no notice that there were fewer less paintings on the walls as he made his way back to the Gryffindor tower.

Finally at the portrait of The Fat Lady he again heaved a sigh. She wasn't there, probably off chatting with another painting.

Deciding to visit Dobby he quietly made his way down towards the kitchen. He didn't find it odd that there were no stray peers roaming the halls, nor did he find the quietness of the place strange. Today was a day of mourning after all.

It wasn't until Harry entered the kitchens he truly realized something wasn't right. There were by far less house elves, and if the elves didn't do it for him, the two people talking about things at one of the tables did.

Shaking his head he thought back to the events that took place not even an hour ago. Time travel, on this level, wasn't possible. A few hours maybe, but definitely not a thousand years. No, he had to be dreaming.

Finally noticing there was a stranger in the room, the man's piercing grey eyes fixed themselves on Harry's emerald ones. "Who are you?" he asked.

Immediately Harry felt and saw his entire life flash before his eyes. Wincing he spoke as clearly as he could, "I'm Harry Potter, Sir."

"Oh Salazar," the lady quipped, knowing exactly what he was doing. "Leave the poor boy's mind alone." Turning to Harry she gave him a sweet smile. "I'm sorry, but how did you get here?"

Finally the feeling of legilimency stopped and Harry was able to answer. "A portkey ma'am. I was in the Room of Requirement and there was a cup…" he trailed off unsure of how to continue. He wasn't even sure if they'd understand him, but then again, they clearly weren't talking with the old English slang he expected.

Salazar was still eyeing him in distrust, even with Harry's entire life knowledge. "Perhaps, Mr. Potter, a charm was placed upon the cup with the impression of whoever touched it would, by chance, need the language barrier ripped down."

Turning his gaze back to Slytherin House founder Harry once again felt the impression of legilimency on his mind. "Would you stop that?" Harry asked glaring at the man. "Don't you have it all already?"

"I do," Salazar said a nasty grin on his face, "I'm just making sure this isn't a…joke."

"A joke," Helga wondered, looking from Harry and back to Salazar. "Would you mind explaining to me why you're here?" she asked finally deciding to settle her sight on Harry.

Looking back at Helga, Harry found himself unable to answer.

Salazar seeing this gave a dark laugh.

"Well you know all about him, perhaps you know why he is here then?" Helga snapped, turning back to her friend.

"Oh, I know not why he is here, but perhaps we should find and alert Rowena and Godric before we question him any further," he suggested. "In the meantime, I would like to have a little…chat, with our guest."

Eyeing the founder Harry shook his head. He really didn't want to have a conversation with this man. "I don't think we need to have a conversation Sir."

"No," Salazar hissed, and Harry was sure that he was speaking in Parseltongue by the look on Helga's face. "We do." He paused and gestured for Helga to get on with her search while at the same time gesturing for Harry to take a seat. "You have some misconceived perceptions of me, and I know it's because of how history has…painted me… You would do well to forget about those lies Mr. Potter, because I am not. That. Man." He paused briefly at the end of each of the last three words.

"Could have fooled me," Harry hissed back, not letting his glare waver. "What gives you the right to just invade someone's mind? You obviously know everything I do… About your descendant -"

Salazar quickly cut him off in a heated hiss. "Do not pin my unworthy heir on me. It was not I who put those words about me on paper, I believe you know what that is like Mr. Potter."

Feeling his shoulders slump down Harry lowered his gaze.

"Now, before the others get here I'd like to offer my condolences over your loss," Salazar spoke watching as tears built up in the young boys eyes. "But that isn't here, and if we are to train you, you'll do your best to put that to the side."

Snapping his eyes up to the founder who had shed the unpleasantries, Harry knew his glare had returned in full. "What do you know about loss?" he hissed. "I've lost everything! You seriously expect me to just put it to the side? You know nothing of my pain!"

Before the founder could speak another word Harry rushed out of the kitchen barely getting past the other three founders who stood there completely unaware of just what the conversation had entailed.

"Just what did you say to the dear boy?" Helga all but shrieked as they entered the kitchen. "He looked like the earth under his feet was going to disappear!"

Salazar sighed and looked up at his friends. "The boy needs our help," he finally said after they all sat down. "Obviously I looked into his mind, he has absolutely no shields but that's beside the point."

"Well get on with it then, tell us what you know," Rowena said bringing a cup of tea to her lips.

"His whole life has been strung together by a prophecy," Salazar said and watched as Rowena choked on her tea. "Since the age of one he's been living with his Aunt and Uncle, who've abused him and treated him like a house elf."

Salazar took a sip of his own tea along with a deep breath before he continued the boy's story. He told them what he saw from Harry's life with the Dursley's, to finding out he was a wizard, and every year at Hogwarts since. "He's going to have to kill the man, or the entire Wizarding world will fall."

Godric, who had remained silent up until that point let out a short breath. Rowena looked as if she were already thinking up how they would help this boy, and Helga had a small tense frown upon her face.

"And what did you say to cause him so much more upset?" Helga asked again breaking the silence in the room.

Salazar sighed again and shook his head. "The boy is not from this time, the fact momentarily fled my mind," was all he said as he got up from the table. "When he is ready, he'll come find us." And with that the man left the room.

Rowena, Godric, and Helga then all looked at each other, an understanding silently settled between them. When Harry was ready they would teach him all they could, train him to be the best wizard of his time, and then when they had no more left to give they would find a way to send him back, so he could fulfill the prophecy and lead the Wizarding world to a new age.


	2. The First Day

Midnight found Harry at the top of the Astronomy Tower. He may have been brought back a thousand years but the spot where Dumbledore took his last breaths looked none the different. The pain clenched tightly in his chest as he continued to stare at it as he had been doing for the last few hours.

No one had come looking for him yet, at least he was quite certain. Salazar Bloody Slytherin probably told them everything though.

In truth Harry was more upset with the fact that this man he had believed to be a monster knew all his secrets than he was at the discourteous comment he made about brushing his emotions aside. Not to say that it didn't hurt, because it did, but he knew that it held some credence.

Feeling his stomach rumble for the hundredth time Harry decided to once more make his way to the kitchens.

As he made his way down he took note that the castle wasn't much different than it was during his time period. There were definitely not as many paintings, and the suits of armor had yet to be added, but it certainly produced the same warm feeling of being home.

Stepping into the kitchen Harry was glad to see that the founders weren't lingering about.

"Can Zazzy help you young sir?" a house elf asked spotting him as he enter the room.

The house elves of this time weren't much different than the ones of his time, he noted, other than the fact they were wearing better cloths. Looking at the house elf that spoke to him Harry scratched the back of his head. "Err, do you think I could have something to eat?"

Zazzy nodded and immediately set about getting the young man some food.

Once the house elf had placed a small meal of stew in front of him Harry cautiously took a bite. When he realized it didn't taste like mud he readily filled his mouth with another spoonful.

After there was none left Harry called the house elf over again.

"Yes young Sir?" Zazzy asked.

"Well, I was wondering if you could perhaps help me with my sleeping arrangements?"

Eyeing the young wizard Zazzy should his head. "Zazzy is sorry Sir, but you'll have to speak to one of my masters."

Sighing Harry nodded and once again left the kitchen, only this time it was a much calmer pace. He had no intention of talking to one of the founders just yet, and with that in mind he quietly made his way back to the Room of Requirement.

Dragging a large hand across his face Godric sighed. With the help of Rowena, Helga, and, although he wasn't a huge contribution to the planning, Salazar, they had come up with a rough lesson plan for young Harry.

Helga was willing to teach him charms, healing, and herbology. Rowena would go forward and teach him transfiguration, potions, and Hogwarts itself. Salazar was a bit standoffish, saying the boy wouldn't want to be left alone in a room with him for even a second, would teach him oclumency and legilimency.

Godric himself grinned, excited to teach the boy how to duel, along with how to use and fight with a sword, and if he could, how to become an animagus.

"Yes," Godric thought, "Harry will be ready to take on anyone once they were done with him."

Salazar, seeing the grin, coughed a laugh. "He hasn't even come to us yet, and we're planning on what to teach him? He's probably holed himself away somewhere trying in vain to find a way back!"

"Oh Salazar," Helga said. "He'll come to us, you said it yourself. He's just not ready."

Eyeing the woman Salazar shook his head. "You didn't see the things I saw."

"What there was more?" Rowena asked sharply. If she were being honest she wasn't exactly happy with the man. Not only had he run the poor lad off, but ever since he had told Harry's story, he had been a bit more snarky than usual.

"Rowena he had no shields," Salazar snapped. "I didn't just see his life's events, I felt some of them as well. It's a wonder the boy is even totally sane!"

With a big sigh Godric turned to one of the many portraits lining the study's wall. "Has anyone caught a glimpse of him yet?"

The man in the portrait had just come back from another painting. Tilting his head in acknowledgement to the founder he nodded. "He was in the kitchens for a time, then he made his way up the stairs to the seventh floor. My guess is he'll be in the Come and Go room."

Thanking the portrait for it's help Godric turned back to his friends. "So who wants to go fetch the boy?"

Glaring at his friend Salazar shook his head. "Has it already slipped your mind that he's to come to us! We can't push the boy, it's bad enough that we're planning all of his lessons and we don't even know if he'll be willing to take them! Merlin save me, but we don't even know what his skill level is!"

Settling into his chair once more Godric frowned. It hadn't really slipped his mind, he was just excited. And Salazar had said he was in Gryffindor! He just wanted to meet the bloke!

"Men, calm down," Rowena spoke gaining their gazes, or Godric's gaze and Salazar's glare. "When he does come to us we'll just test him. And if he's not willing to train, we'll work with him to help him find his way back. Now, I'm going to head off to bed. Tomorrow we'll see if the boy is ready or not, and if not, the next day perhaps."

The next day started off with a groan for Harry. He was not only in a different time period, he was without his friends, the people he needed the most. "At least," he thought, "the Dursley's aren't around."

Getting out of the bed the Room had set up for him Harry silently asked if it would give him some food. When nothing appeared his frown deepened. He would have to go down to the kitchens.

He also realized that he didn't have a change of clothes, and with that thought the room did provide him with something.

Pulling on the garments he could no longer deny that he was in a different time. The shirt felt scratchy against his skin, he had no pants to put under his trousers and that alone was an entirely different feeling for Harry.

Once he was all dressed he headed off towards the kitchens. When he got close he peered to see if the founders were there and was surprised when a voice sounded from behind him.

"Well go on in dear, we won't hurt you." It was the Hufflepuff founder and she had nothing but a sympathetic smile on her round face.

With another sigh Harry quietly made his way into the kitchen and sat at the far end of the table. It was weird for him, he knew, to be so antisocial but he couldn't let himself warm to these people. Not when it was inevitable that they would disappear from his life.

As the rest of the founders came into the room breakfast appeared on the table. There were plenty of slices of bread, along with dishes of butter, a nice full bowl of fruits including apples, pears, and even a couple of plums. Also on the menu were a couple platters of eggs.

Harry poured himself a cup of juice, and was pleasantly surprised it was pumpkin. He watched the founder's hands as they pulled food onto their plates.

Realizing the boy wasn't eating anything Salazar opened his mouth but quickly shut it when he caught Rowena's glare. After another minute passed and the boy still hadn't grabbed anything Salazar just spoke. "No need to starve yourself boy, eat."

Snapping his head to attention he looked at the founder briefly before casting his gaze down to the table once again.

A few seconds of silence passed before Harry was once again surprised when a plate of food appeared in front of him.

Looking up again he noticed the pleasant smile on Helga Hufflepuff's face and gave her his own grateful one. Tentatively he started eating and the founders all turned to each other to discuss their plans for the day.

He was glad that they weren't trying to include him in the conversation but he didn't miss the curious glances Rowena Ravenclaw would give him, or the peering gaze of Godric Gryffindor. Helga Hufflepuff would look at him once in a while but for the most part she let him be.

Salazar Slytherin on the other hand was much more open about looking at the boy. For more than half the meal he could be caught watching the boy. Either to make sure he was still in the room, or that he was in fact eating, Harry wasn't sure.

With the last bite of his breakfast in his mouth Harry got up to leave. He was quite certain that Salazar was going to say something to try and stop him, but he realized as he got to the door that wasn't the case and he was free to just go.

Harry spent the better part of the day in the library looking at books that he knew were classified as restricted during his own time period. He wasn't quite sure why they were restricted because most of the information he got out of the text was theory. He supposed it was to discourage anyone from trying to make their own portkey.

After setting the second book aside he realized that nothing in these books was going to help him. And with that in mind he made his way back to the kitchens for some lunch and to hopefully find one of the founders. He would have to accept some help if he ever wanted to get back to his own time.

When he did reach the kitchens he was, not exactly happy but not disheartened, to find Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff finishing up their own lunch.

Hesitantly he made his way towards the table and sat down in the same spot he had earlier in the morning. Not sure exactly how to start the conversation he decided on asking them what he would call them. "Um, excuse me," he said bringing their full attention to him. "What exactly should I call you?"

A warm smile spread across Helga Hufflepuff's face as she answered him. "Our names of course!"

Rowena too smiled and nodded in agreement. "And what would you like us to call you, Mr. Potter?"

A blush tinted his cheeks and he bowed his head a little. "Harry's fine," he answered.

"Well Harry, is there something we can help you with?" Helga asked her smile not wavering in the least. She really was as cheerful as the books said she was.

"Um, well," he mumbled. "I was in the library," he started, looking towards Rowena, "and I was reading some of the books about portkeys, but they were all just theory, and I was wondering if someone could help me get back to my own time." At this point he was talking towards the table feeling embarrassed for having mumbled more than half of his speech.

"Of course we'll help you dear," Helga said putting a comforting hand on his forearm. "We'll figure it out together."

Looking up he gave a halfhearted smile and looked over to see that the two male founders had joined the table as well.

"So," Godric spoke a broad smile on his face. "You're in Gryffindor huh?"

Seeing how proud Godric was about the sorting Harry decided to come out of his shell a little and gave his first real smile since he got here. "Well," he said glancing over at Salazar, "the hat originally wanted to put me in Slytherin."

Three of the four founders laughed heartily at that and Godric sat looking between his friend and the boy of the future gaping like a fish out of water. Finally once the laughter had died down some Godric shook his head and muttered something about a hat having jurisdiction over where new students got placed to which Harry continued to burst the man's bubble by telling him that he was the one that had created the hat.

A little while later Harry was once again in the library only this time he was joined by Rowena whose vast knowledge would definitely help the young man. They pondered over the books for hours when Helga stuck her head in to call them to dinner.

At the end of the day Harry was tucked into his own room in the staff corridors. He still didn't plan to get close to any of the founders but it was just the first day and he had who knew how long until he could get back to his own time if ever. With that thought Harry closed his eyes and let himself drift to sleep.


	3. Foundations

The day next the Founder's brought Harry to one of the classrooms and it vaguely resembled the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom in his day. On one of the walls there were many assortments of weapons, from swords and daggers, to bows, and even, to Harry's surprise, a mace. Another wall held a large scroll with the rules for dueling inside the classroom. Among them at the top was "respect your fellow combatant". The third wall was lined with dummies while the forth wall had a gigantic mirror, much like the that was used when he taught the DA.

Once he was done eyeing everything, Rowena spoke up, "If we are to train you, and we are, we need to know where you stand in your subjects." Gesturing her hand around the room she spoke again, "As you can see we'll first be testing your skills in Defense. That will be the key area of study. Now, before you begin with the practical test, why don't you give us a brief summary of your knowledge?"

Swallowing a lump in his throat Harry started to tell them about his excursions where he has fought when Salazar interrupted him. "We know all that! We want to know what various spells you know. If there's anything besides being a Parselmouth that will give you an advantage."

Sending a glare towards the founder Harry scratched the back of his head before going on and telling them the many spells he knew. When he was done they were quite surprised, not because he knew so many, but because to them, it wasn't nearly enough.

"Standards have slipped," Rowena said sadly, shaking her head. "Alright, now, these dummies here are going to act us a scale. You will fire off your best spells against them and based on how powerful the spell is it will glow. I won't worry you now by telling you what each color means, so just give it your all, understand?"

Nodding, Harry turned to the dummies that had moved from their places against the wall to the middle of the room.

Godric, Rowena, and Salazar all watched as he fired spell after spell at the defenseless dummies. His first spell, expelliarmus, made the dummy glow a bright blue. Briefly looking back at his new teachers, he wondered what they thought, but their faces betrayed nothing. With a sigh, he continued.

His next spell, diffindo, glowed a dull green. A couple more spells landed on their targets all glowed a soft yellow. After casting his pertfrificus totalus, the dummy glowed red, which Harry thought was a good color for no other reason that it being one of Gryffindor's. His last spell, his patronus, made the dummy glow a bright white.

Finally, he turned to the founders and frowned a little. Their faces were still blank masks. "So," he asked, "how'd I do?"

Letting his mask dissolve, Godric smiled at the boy. "Whatever memory you used for your patronus must have been something," he remarked, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "Now why don't we head off to my office and we can tell you about those colors."

Taking a deep breath, Harry nodded and walked with Godric while Rowena and Salazar followed behind, giving each other knowing looks. Once they reached Godric's office, which was decorated in his standard red and gold, and they all sat down Harry was all but bouncing in his seat.

"Hold on lad, we need Helga here as well," Godric said, calling forth one of the house elves so they could go and alert the missing founder.

Tired of waiting, Harry grumbled. "Can't you at least give me something while we wait? What color was the best?" When all the founder's said a different color, colors that also represented their houses, Harry's mind clicked, but he was still very confused.

After another few minutes passed Helga finally came into the room, a pleasant smile on her face. "So, how well did he do?"

Dragging his hands across his face, Harry was quick to watch their faces. They weren't blank masks anymore, but they were all smiling at his obvious frustration.

"Most of his spells were green, a good chunk of them were yellow and blue, there were three of them that glowed red, and one that glowed white," Rowena said, pulling out a piece of parchment Harry hadn't seen before. "His white one just happened to be his patronus, which came in the form of a stag."

Nodding, Helga looked over to the young man and smiled sympathetically at him. "They haven't told you what the colors mean yet have they?" When he shook his head she reassuringly patted his arm and turned to her friends. "Does this change the lesson plan that we have?"

Rowena shook her head. "There are a few things that could be added, and once he reaches a point where he exceeds expectations we can add a few courses."

All at once, everyone turned to Harry, who had taken to glaring at the floor. Godric gave a low chuckle and Salazar looked slightly amused, while Rowena and Helga both gave knowing smiles. Taking pity on the boy, Helga started first, "Yellow just means that the spell needs work. It also means that I will be the one teaching you towards making it outstanding."

Hearing that, Harry picked up his head, and felt a rush of emotion overcome him. He had thought the colors might mean something along those lines but to hear it out loud was almost too much. Nodding his head for them to continue he struggled to rein in his emotions.

"Blue, besides the obvious fact that I'll be teaching you in that area, meant that the spells was okay," Rowena said, smiling kindly at the boy. "I dare say that you'll be a force to be reckoned with when we're done with you. Nobody else can say that they've had all four of us teach them."

"Green," Salazar said, as Rowena finished her small speech, "means that it could be better. You may think that loosely sounds like an okay, but keep in mind that the charm placed on the dummies decided I'd be best to teach you it."

Taking a deep breath, Harry nodded slowly, and turned to Godric. "You'll be pleased to hear that red meant that the spell was almost perfect, and you'll of course being learning at my side. And white, as you may have already figured out, was the best of all of them," Godric said, finishing the explanations of the colors.

"So you'll all be teaching me defense," Harry said, his voice soft and toned heavily with shock. "And what about the lesson plan?"

Smiling at the young boy, Rowena spoke up for the rest of them. "We've come up with a lesson plan that will help you when you return to the future. You may not think some of the things will or can help, but they can. I, myself, will be teaching you transfiguration, potions, and if you'd like, all about Hogwarts herself, alongside of the defense work we'll already be doing. There will also be an opportunity to learn how to trap an individual, but we'll get to that later."

Next to explain the lesson plan to Harry was Helga, who was clapping her hands excitedly. "I'll be teaching you healing, charms, and herbology. As well as a few cooking skills when you've finished learning what I have to teach you about herbology!"

Giving a small nod of acceptance, Harry turned to Salazar. He was not really looking forward to learning under the man, but he would try to put his own feelings aside. Salazar gave Harry his own nod, understanding Harry's reluctance. "I already know you're not excited to learn anything from me, but I am the master at what I can teach you. Pointedly, oclumency, legilimency, and Parseltongue spells."

The three other founders snapped their attention to their friend, not privy to the knowledge beforehand. No one said anything though as Harry nodded. Salazar continued, not bothered by the looks he got from his fellow friends. "I will also, in the future, be willing to teach you tracking which would include how to find certain things and destroy them."

Looking as deep as he could into the man's eyes, Harry was a bit surprised. It was at that moment he realized Salazar really wanted Voldemort dead, and he would teach Harry anything he could in order for the job to be done. Harry gave one more nod to the man before he turned to the last founder.

Godric smiled brightly at Harry knowing he would, by the end of the week, not want to train with him again. "I will be teaching you how to be the best dueler, how to fight with a sword, and, you'll enjoy this one, how to become an animagus! You also will have the ability to learn from me ways of travel, and, I daresay, wizard laws."

Hearing the last part, Harry raised an eyebrow at the man. "But your laws now will be different from my laws in the future!"

Godric laughed and shrugged, "But it could be useful! You may find that many laws won't have changed, and if they have, you'll have the background knowledge of what they once were and can find what they were replaced by. You have to agree it could be useful."

Rowena nodded and gave her friend some support. "Harry, learning these laws isn't just learning about what you are allowed to do and aren't, it's learning how we uphold our society, do you understand?"

Slowly, Harry nodded, and with effort asked them how the lesson plan looked.

Rowena handed him a piece of parchment and Harry felt all the color drain from his face. Apparently standards had slipped if this is what the students went through during this time period! Written in elegant script was the following:

**Harry's Training Schedule:**

**Time - Activity**

**5-6:30 - Exercise**

**6:30-7 - Wash up**

**7-8 - Breakfast**

**8-12 - Training**

**12-1 - Lunch**

**1-3 - Defense**

**3-6 - Training**

**6-7- Dinner**

**7-x -**

Here it stopped and Harry looked up confused.

"After dinner you'll be free to do any homework assigned to you, and before you go to sleep that includes oclumency," Salazar said. "Today, you'll start your training with me. You have Friday through Sunday off but you'll be expected to keep up with your morning schedule on those days as well. As this next week goes by we'll see what works and doesn't and adjust accordingly."

Taking a deep breath, Harry nodded. By the end of the summer he would be fit, and hopefully, he'll be on his way back to his own time.

Continuing to explain his lesson plan, Salazar watched the color return to the young man's face and he was glad. They weren't really slave drivers, usually they'd only teach students in their own houses and the work load was expanded over their seven years. "Monday you'll be training with Helga. Tuesday you'll be training with Rowena, Wednesday with Godric, and of course, you already know Thursday is with me. "Any questions?"

"What will the training schedule's look like?" he asked. He wanted to be prepared for each of his classes the following week. It was already bad enough he had no idea what to expect from the man he was most worried about, and he had him after they finished their lunches.

"No need to worry ahead of time dear, we won't expect anything of you next week, the first part of our training will be an overview of what you know and then we'll tell you what you'll be able to expect before we start, does that sound okay?" Helga questioned.

Harry nodded, and turned to look at Salazar. "So after lunch where am I expected to be?"

"After lunch," Salazar said, a smiling tugging his lips, "I'll be making my way to the designated training area with you."

* * *

As promised, as soon as they finished lunch, Salazar guided Harry to where they would be training. To Harry's surprise, their destination was the Chamber of Secrets.

"Isn't your basilisk down here?" Harry asked, worried, and cautiously looking in each pipe that they passed.

Salazar gave a low growl and shook his head. "The basilisk that resided here in your time was not mine. But I do believe it was the hatchling of mine." He looked down at Harry who was eyeing the room in awe, before he continued speaking. "I truly am sorry about the events that played out for you though Mr. Potter. It was never my intention for Sari to hurt anyone, I'm sure she will be distraught to know that such things happen."

"Sari?" Harry questioned, hoping the fear wasn't evident in his voice.

Looking down to the young man, Salazar nodded, "You didn't think my pet nameless, did you? And before you ask, yes the others know about her. She's here to help protect the school, not harm it."

"But her eyes," Harry said, still looking around the room. It was much different than it was in his time. It was more spacious, and somehow it seemed cleaner. There were replicas of the dummies that were upstairs, and there was also a few desks against one of the walls.

"I have a charm placed on them by none other than Helga herself. It's everlasting so Helga doesn't need to come down here to redo it all the time. You're safe Mr. Potter. Sari is off patrolling, but I do ask that if you're ever here at the same time as her that you'll not be so afraid. That would cause her much distress."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Harry gave a nod. "I'll try not to be, but I make no promises," he said. They had stopped in the middle of the room and he had no idea if he were to sit at one of the desks or not.

"As you know I made this place for my students to come and get some extra studying done. What you may not know that it has my own private sanctuary that is connected to my office upstairs. It's very helpful for me to watch my students and see how they interact without them knowing they're being watched. Now, Mr. Potter, I believe we have some defense and training work to get to," Salazar said, taking out his wand and flicking it towards the motionless dummies.

For the next two hours they worked on the spells that Harry had earned a green on. They managed to get one of the greens to glow quite dull, and Harry thought that was a good thing, and Salazar nodded.

As they ended their work on those spells, Salazar asked him to cast his weakest green (which glowed a great emerald color) spell one more time, but to say it in Parseltongue, and when the spell hit the dummy the room was showered in a white glow.

"Now Parseltongue spells aren't something to use constantly, though they are very effective," Salazar explained, motioning for Harry to take a seat in an armchair that he had conjured. "The reason I just had you cast that spell in Parseltongue was for two reasons. One, to introduce you to the magic, and two, to show how effective it can be. Now can you think of why you wouldn't want to use the spells all the time?"

Taking a minute to think Harry shook his head. If he cast spells using Parseltongue all the time he would be practically unstoppable!

Smirking at his student. Salazar began telling him the flaws. "To use powerful magic like such you're tapping into a great deal of your own magical essence. If you do it too much your essence starts to wean and that can be dangerous. True, it refills over time, but what would you do in a situation and the essence, the spark, wasn't there and you really needed to say, bring up a shield?"

Understanding dawned on him and Harry nodded. "So only if you're winning a duel, use it?"

Another smirk spread across the older man's face and he shook his head. "The less you use it the better. Regular spells spoken in their natural tongue only tap into your magical essence a little. If you used the Parseltongue spells on an everyday basis would you want to use the regular spoken ones again? You may think that overtime the tapping into your essence while using such spells becomes less great, but alas, it does not."

A small sigh escaped the young man and he nodded again. "So why are you going to teach me Parseltongue spells if I shouldn't use them?"

"To give you the knowledge that they are there," Salazar told him bowing his head. "Now that you know they are there, and I've taught you what you need to know about it, you've learned all you can on the matter. Do you agree?"

Harry moved to shrug his shoulders before thinking better of it and nodding.

"Well then let's move on to our next topic, shall we?" Salazar eyed the young man and knew exactly what he would have for homework. "Before I can teach you legilimency you'll learn all you can on oclumency. Previously you had a teacher who, from my understanding, didn't teach you anything of the subject. He abused your mind and for that I'm sorry.

"Now the thing you need to know when emptying your mind, you need to be relaxed. You also need to start sorting through your memories to make them harder to access. To do that, you need to have a foundation, and on that a place where you can put the memories. For now, I want you to picture this foundation, make it sturdy as it will support the shields that will protect you from someone entering your mind. Do you have a foundation?" Salazar asked closely watching Harry's face and emotions.

Harry opened his mouth to speak but Salazar cut him off.

"Don't tell me what it is," he said. "Why do you suppose I just stopped you?"

"Because if you knew what my foundation is you'd be better able to access my memories?" he asked. He was very unsure of the answer but when he saw Salazar nod with approval he smiled.

"Correct. Now in your mind picture the foundation." When Harry nodded he continued. "Now picture where you want to put your memories. Don't worry about placing anything yet, just picture the structure."

"Sir, would it be possible to place memories in, figuratively speaking of course, blades of grass? Wouldn't that make it harder to pick out certain memories?"

Surprised at the question, Salazar eyed the young man. "I suppose. It's quite unorthodox, no one would look at grass for memories. As long as you built a structure, but I think after a while the person looking at your memories would find something isn't right."

"So if I placed certain memories in the grass, but other not so important ones in the structure it would help prolong them from finding the important ones right?"

"I don't see why not, but I should tell you Harry, when I feel you're ready, I will test your shields and once again go into your memories," Salazar said, and after a minute he realized he had called the boy by his name. Eyeing the young man to see if he too caught it he smiled a little to see Harry was once again concentrating on his mind.

After some time had passed, Salazar broke Harry's concentration and told him that it was time for them to go for dinner. "You did really well today Mr. Potter," Salazar said, as they made their way to the kitchen. "I'm happy you've seemed to caught on to the basics of the practice. For homework I ask that you write me a foot long essay on the disadvantages of Parseltongue magic with examples of why you shouldn't use it."

Nodding, Harry looked up at the founder who he had come to find wasn't evil at all. He was, for some reason, really glad to have the mans approval.

Once they reached the kitchens, they noticed the other three founders were eagerly waiting news of how Harry had done on his first day.

Looking up to see what Salazar would say Harry felt as though the bottom of his stomach had dropped.

"He still has a ways to go, but it was acceptable," Salazar spoke. Turning to Harry he saw the look of dismay on his face and switched the Parseltongue. "I mean it in the most positive way Mr. Potter, you really did quite well."

Putting on a small smile, Harry couldn't help but feel that his appetite had left him. Somehow during the course of the day he had let his guard down. He let himself feel something towards the man that he had spent the last five hours with. Eating a few bites of food he felt his resolve come back to him. He couldn't get close to these people, he wouldn't be able to bare it when they were ripped away. And eventually, when he could go back, they would be. It was inevitable.


End file.
